(NY-29) MoveOn “Caught Red-Handed” ads put GOP Randy Kuhl on defensive

For the official record: I have volunteered with the Massa campaign, but in no way am I officially affiliated with them or do my views on the race and these MoveOn ads reflect the views of the Massa campaign. I’m just a blogger and a passionate Democrat who really likes Eric Massa.

MoveOn.org has been running 2 ads each about Randy Kuhl in the NY-29th, and also about about John Sweeney in the NY-20th, called “Caught Red-Handed”. See them here.  Text below for the Kuhl ads:

First Ad

Caught red-handed again. Congressman Randy Kuhl accepted thousands of dollars from Defense Contractor PACs. Then he opposed penalties for Defense Contractors like Halliburton who overcharged the mil in Ira at a time when soliders didn’t have enough body armor. Tom Delay Dick Cheney and now Randy Kuhl Another Republican caught red-handed.

Second Ad

What happened to the $300 billion dollars we sent to Iraq? Halliburton got $18 billion, $9 billion is just plain missing. And our Congressman Randy Kuhl has been caught red handed voting for all of it. That’s money we need for jobs and healthcare here in NY. Now Randy Kuhl is ready to dump billions more in Iraq. Randy Kuhl, another Republican caught red-handed…

Both Republicans have responded by lawyering up (Sweeney link) or demanding that the stations pull the ads (Kuhl link)  This is, in turn, giving the ads and their content a great deal of free media coverage…..

Contrary to earlier press reports, none of the stations have pulled the ads, but have done fact checks and instead have found no legitimate reason to pull them. Kuhl did indeed vote for several appropriations, and against oversight on defense contractors he received PAC money from. Some stations have already run through the media buy that MoveOn has done so they are no longer running.

But the buzz continues, thanks to statements like these from Kuhl’s 24 year old campaign manager and son, James Kuhl:

“I would say it’s a phrase that implies one thing across all people. If you say red handed it automatically assumes illegitimate activity,” said James Kuhl.

Kuhl said there is nothing criminal about voting in congress.

News 10NBC contacted MoveOn.org in Washington.

“Webster’s Dictionary defines `red handed’ as misdeed. Yes if you’re describing a crime it could also mean that but we’re not describing a crime we’re making a charge that he has not done a good job performing his duties as a member of Congress,” said, Tom Matzzie, the Washington Director of MoveOn.org.

As Exile on Erickson St says on Rochester Turning,

Note to candidates everywhere: it is never a good idea to claim that you haven’t done anything illegal when no one is alleging that you have.

and in fact, the Kuhl campaign is lying about why the ads are no longer running! From The Fighting 29th blog

Rochester’s ABC affiliate denies they pulled a MoveOn ad, as the Kuhl campaign claimed in an earlier press release.  The GM of the station says the ads finished their scheduled run.  He also denies the Kuhl campaign’s claim that WHAM concluded that the ad “contained multiple misrepresentations and was purposefully deceptive.”

Kuhl has got nothing to defend his votes to protect the Defense contractors, so instead he tries to smear MoveOn with lies.

From another post from F29th

But here’s where James (Kuhl, campaign manager)  is stuck. To defend against specific charges gives them more credence. So he sticks with the “red handed” defense and leaves the rest of the ad to stand unanswered.

In this case, MoveOn got what they wanted. Not only did they air their attack ads, but they also got some priceless prime-time news coverage which repeated the content of those ads.

Are the ads being effective? Jury’s still out in New York, but previous ads that MoveOn ran in Connecticut, Ohio and Virginia were polled before and after and results were quite good.

Cheers to local blogs in the NY-29:
Rochester Turning
Fighting 29th

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